WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), a leading fiscal conservative and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, spoke with constituents today at the Winnsboro Rotary Club luncheon about how policies in Washington - including our ongoing debt crisis as well as the economic and regulatory uncertainty - are challenging our economic recovery and affecting Wood County small businesses.

“All across our nation, far too many Americans are sitting around their kitchen tables wondering how they’re going to keep a roof over their head, put food on the table, and gas in their cars to drive kids to school and themselves to a job – if they’re fortunate enough to have one in the Obama economy. American’s paychecks are shrinking and job security is waning. While our nation's spending driven debt crisis and the threat of higher taxes are holding back growth, job creators are also burdened by Obamacare, out of control Washington regulations, and our nation's convoluted and voluminous tax code.

“One way to give working Americans greater economic opportunity and their children a brighter future is to do the following: quit spending money we don’t have, institute pro-growth tax reform, and reform entitlement programs.

“Getting our fiscal house in order is merely the first step in securing the blessings of liberty and the American Dream for future generations.” Hensarling continued. “We need a real economic plan that will allow employers to enlarge paychecks and expand payrolls with pro-growth economic policies such as repealing Obamacare, and stopping the onslaught of senseless red tape coming from unelected Washington bureaucrats, who are currently running wild under the Obama Administration.”

Hensarling addressed the recent scandal at the IRS, “I, like all Americans, was troubled to learn that the government’s most feared agency trampled on our most sacred right: the right of free speech. While I don’t know what the president’s level of responsibility is in this scandal, I know it is not zero. Maybe the president himself never told anybody to do this, but after the president spent weeks and months attacking the Supreme Court for affirming the rights of these groups and jokes about the IRS auditing his opponents, is it any wonder that a culture of harassment has emerged in his administration. As a recent Wall Street Journal piece put it, you don’t really need a telephone when you have a megaphone. House Republicans continue to hold hearings into this inexcusable, indefensible, and dangerous abuse of power and remain committed to insure Washington Bureaucrats are never again allowed to target American citizens.

“Furthermore, several House committees continue to investigate the facts surrounding the tragic attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi—with House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa issuing a new round of subpoenas for state department witnesses. I support the continued oversight and investigation into this tragic loss of life.

“Through things like the House Republican Budget – which reduced out of control Washington spending, reformed our tax code to make it fairer, flatter, and simpler, and made meaningful reforms to strengthen and save our entitlement programs for current retirees and save them for future generations – and bills like the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement Authorization Act and the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act – which make it easier to explore for and produce energy from America’s offshore resources, helping lower energy costs for Americans – House Republicans are working to open opportunities, not smother them; foster productivity, not stifle it. When Washington stops threatening and punishing the job creators I have no doubt our economy will come roaring back,” Hensarling concluded.